The movie that made me pick up a skateboard and Adam pick up a guitar. Nostalgia, nitpicks, and more in our 40th anniversary Sacred Cow review of BACK TO THE FUTURE. youtu.be/eil7RS02uE0?...

I wrote a little book, pals. 'SOFIA COPPOLA: The Complete Unofficial Guide' is out today from @quercusbooks.bsky.social/ Greenfinch and in all good bookstores. I loved delving into Sofia's prettified & melancholy worlds. Link here: www.waterstones.com/book/sofia-c...

Fix Your Heart or Die: The Startling Empathy of David Lynch

First Nations Film and Video Festival shows the only thing Indigenous films have in common is Indigenous filmmakers. https://bit.ly/3Lhe20I

"This is the only FRANKENSTEIN that del Toro—whose ghosts and monsters have long gestured toward the sublime as much as the horrific—could have given us."

Chicago all day every day now. I'm not even sure the rest of the country realizes what it's like here now.

How to find food — or help neighbors in need — while SNAP is paused: blockclubchi.co/4nI7m93

Currently living in St. Andrews and actually saw del Toro's FRANKENSTEIN in Dundee. This is absolutely a landscape that ignites the imagination.

With Black Harvest Film Festival just around the corner, for @ebertvoices.bsky.social, I wrote up a quick preview highlighting 5 films that you should go see!

We're raising $30,000 to keep our nonprofit newsroom running and growing into 2026 and beyond. Great news: Any contribution you make today will matched — that means every dollar you donate will be doubled! 💰 DONATE NOW: blockclubchi.co/3XhDyoZ

Starting Wednesday, DCASE & the Chicago History Museum will present a month long series of movies & events at the Chicago Cultural Center’s Claudia Cassidy Theater in celebration of Siskel & Ebert’s 50th Anniversary. More info about screenings and sign up information:

I know, calling out the "PERSONA shot" in our Filmspotting Sacred Cow review of BACK TO THE FUTURE was a bit much, even for us, but come on! youtu.be/eil7RS02uE0?...

This is as good as time as any to share that I'll be introducing the gorj new 4K restoration of THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (aka The Most Abby Movie of All Time) at Screenland on Nov. 9, and you should come.

Like the movie's kind and patient E.B. White, I tried to be nice to BLUE MOON.

My favorite reading/writing space at St. Andrews: Martyrs Kirk, former church turned library.

The movie that made me pick up a skateboard and Adam pick up a guitar. Nostalgia, nitpicks, and more in our 40th anniversary Sacred Cow review of BACK TO THE FUTURE. youtu.be/eil7RS02uE0?...

This was different. Went on a livestream Brazilian YouTube show to discuss Fear Not! A Christian Appreciation of Horror Movies. Thank goodness for Ana, the translator. You can watch the recording here: www.youtube.com/live/RPsjVa6...

With the Criterion Mobile Closet visiting Chicago International Film Festival, I spoke to those standing in line about what it felt like being there while ICE and the No Kings protests swirled around the city. Their thoughts via @ebertvoices.bsky.social

Currently living in St. Andrews and actually saw del Toro's FRANKENSTEIN in Dundee. This is absolutely a landscape that ignites the imagination.

Like the movie's kind and patient E.B. White, I tried to be nice to BLUE MOON.

This was different. Went on a livestream Brazilian YouTube show to discuss Fear Not! A Christian Appreciation of Horror Movies. Thank goodness for Ana, the translator. You can watch the recording here: www.youtube.com/live/RPsjVa6...

Watching the Wheels: Finding Meaning and Purpose in PATERSON

Happy Halloween Week! An excerpt from Chapter One of Fear Not! A Christian Appreciation of Horror Movies. Available @bookshop.org - bookshop.org/p/books/fear...

Today at The Reveal, I rank the nine films of Kelly Reichardt, which range from very very good to outstanding, because she's just that consistent. The list is really just an excuse to take stock of a brilliant career that almost wasn't. thereveal.film/worst-to-bes...

The second episode of our FAIL-SAFE/A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE pairing, with special guest @jasondashbailey.com, is posted. Come celebrate 60 years of plausible, sleep-robbing nuclear scenarios with us! megaphone.link/FILM2925391917

Happy Halloween Week! An excerpt from Chapter One of Fear Not! A Christian Appreciation of Horror Movies. Available @bookshop.org - bookshop.org/p/books/fear...

Some fun news: I will be sharing about my new 33 1/3 book, "Sufjan Stevens' Carrie & Lowell," at Powell's Books in Portland on November 18. www.powells.com/events/joel-...

Cruised around Inis Mór on an electric bike this week, looking for spots where they filmed The Banshees of Inisherin. A jaw-droppingly beautiful Irish island. More of my pics while studying in the UK are on Instagram: www.instagram.com/larsenonfilm/

Please repost: We're looking for an excellent writer/editor with strong data journalism skills to join the religion team at @pewresearch.org. pewtrusts.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Center...

How about you?

This is where I landed too. A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE plays it coy, but there is no way you can watch it and feel confident in the movie's fictional American infrastructure (let alone the real one). larsenonfilm.com/a-house-of-d...

Might I suggest giving away copies of Fear Not! A Christian Appreciation of Horror Movies to trick-or-treaters this year? bookshop.org/p/books/fear...

A little news from home: @kphipps3000.bsky.social and I wrote about NEWS FROM HOME today as part of our Sight and Sound conversation series. Akerman was a big mover on the S&S 2022 poll, and this epistolary doc is a powerful, lonely impression of NYC in the mid '70s: thereveal.film/52-tie-news-...

I'm picking up the pace over at my (FREE) email newsletter, in case you want to subscribe: larsenonfilm.com/newsletter-s...

Good practice for any book you've enjoyed - ask your library to buy a copy.

The city of Chicago is doing a whole series of events in November to honor the 50th anniversary of Siskel & Ebert’s very first episode. If I lived there, I’d be at all of these.

Might I suggest giving away copies of Fear Not! A Christian Appreciation of Horror Movies to trick-or-treaters this year? bookshop.org/p/books/fear...

If you’re like me, you sat up on your chair when S-tier character actor Kevin Tighe turned up in ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER. I had a wonderful conversation with him about it for The Reveal: thereveal.film/interview-ke...

From the end of my ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER review: "If the movie seems to rank among Anderson’s best work right now, I hope for a day when it drops down that list. This will mean we’ve made it to a better, truer United States of America..." (larsenonfilm.com/one-battle-a...)

from me -- a profile of Jafar Panahi, a filmmaker whose work has perfectly met our age of surveillance and interrogation and asks the imperative question of: Who are we, and what comes next? IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT = masterpiece, imo.

A pleasure to be back on the Popping Collars podcast to talk #FearNotFilmBook.

Wrote a bit about an icon whose breezy, awkward, insecure candor made her feel like a friend. www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

Indigenous filmmakers! Are you aspiring to direct a feature film? Apply now for the 2026 Merata Mita Fellowship to be considered for grants, yearlong support, and more. Deadline: November 3, 2025. Apply here: bit.ly/4nNBj8C

I'm picking up the pace over at my (FREE) email newsletter, in case you want to subscribe: larsenonfilm.com/newsletter-s...

What's your dream actor-director pairing? (You can watch our Filmspotting picks on YouTube: youtu.be/GguoMdA-37s?...)

If you're watching the situation in Chicago from afar & want to help, on the off chance you have spare $$, you can give to the Midwest Immigrant Bond Fund, which posts "bond for individuals held in the custody of ICE w ties to IL, IN, KY & WI who cannot afford to pay" www.mibfc.org/helpusgrow

My next book will be a biography of Jack Nicholson, written as an epic story of the transformation of the movie industry and modern masculinity from the 1950s to the present, with Nicholson as the main character. The title: Leading Man.

So hey, the first anniversary of my book, Films for all Seasons, is next week! There are a couple of ways you can join in on the celebration! Way number one: Order my book on bookshop.org, which is offering free shipping today!

From the end of my ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER review: "If the movie seems to rank among Anderson’s best work right now, I hope for a day when it drops down that list. This will mean we’ve made it to a better, truer United States of America..." (larsenonfilm.com/one-battle-a...)

If you haven't read my Christian appreciation of horror movies yet, there's no better time than spooky season. bookshop.org/p/books/fear...